How to clear a burned image on a plasma tv

Written by david lipscomb

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You can remove burn-in with a variety of test patterns. (Plasma panel image by Nikolay Okhitin from Fotolia.com)

Plasma burn-in is usually a temporary phenomenon, more accurately known as image retention. Pure burn-in is usually exceedingly difficult to completely remove, depending on the amount of time the phosphors in the set were subjected to harmful images. Through a process colloquially known as "scrubbing," reverse or white noise images can be displayed to evenly illuminate the screen, making the images less obvious or making them go away entirely.

Skill level:

Easy

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Things you need

Test pattern DVD

DVD player

DVD player and plasma remotes

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Instructions

1

Increase the plasma's contrast level to 80 per cent, using the set's remote. Only leave the set at this setting when using the test patterns.

Place the player on repeat mode using the remote. Allow the pattern to play for six to eight hours.

4

Engage the plasma's inversion mode. This is increasingly common on most plasma sets, and is designed to directly counter image retention from a specific pattern. This must be used after identifying the cause of the burn-in, from either a station logo, a ticker or a black bar. Allow this to remain for six to eight hours.

5

Engage a full white screen from the set's internal modes, designed to "scrub" the entire screen if image retention is found on a variety of locations on the screen. Allow this to remain for three to four hours.

Tips and warnings

Reduce contrast to around 40 per cent for the first 100 hours of usage.

Prevent station logos or black bars on the plasma during the first 100 hours. Engage a zoom mode on the plasma to push these off the screen.

Never leave a high contrast image on the plasma, or have the set run with contrast set above 60 per cent. Doing so is inviting burn-in to occur.